Durham Bulls fail to convert in Game 1 of championship series

DURHAM — For large chunks of the season the Durham Bulls made the clutch plays and the key pitches.

They saw that from the other side in Game 1 of the International League championship series Tuesday night.

The Pawtucket Red Sox scored two eighth-inning runs and then their pitchers continued to escape jams, winning 2-1 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“They made the big pitch when they had to,” Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Nail-biters, you have to make the plays, the big pitches.”

Game 2 is tonight in Durham before the rest of the series shifts to Pawtucket, R.I.

The Bulls loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Anthony Carter, who retired Shelley Duncan on a foul pop and Brandon Guyer on a flyout.

Until Pawtucket second baseman Brock Holt took a starring role, it was another stellar performance from Bulls starter Jake Odorizzi.

Holt’s two-run single in the eighth inning — off the gloving of diving second baseman Mike Fontenot — gave the Red Sox a lead and he helped preserve the edge with his defense.

Odorizzi worked seven shutout innings in his second consecutive postseason outing. He struck out seven, including the last four batters he faced.

“It didn’t go to no avail,” he said. “We had chance.”

And plenty of them. The Bulls stranded 13 runners, including seven across the last three innings.

“We had a couple of opportunities and it just wasn’t working out for us,” Bulls center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “Jake pitched his butt off for us. That’s the way it happens sometimes. We needed that big hit and didn’t capitalize on it.”

Durham’s first two batters reached in the eighth. Fontenot appeared to have a game-tying single, but Holt dove on the outfield grass and threw him out for the second out.

In the seventh, Pawtucket center fielder Justin Henry made a two-out diving catch of Jason Bourgeois’ drive with two Durham runners on board. This came after the first two Bulls batters of the inning were robbed of singles by Holt.

In the eighth, the first two Pawtucket batters reached against Jeff Beliveau, with Justin Henry slapping a single and Heiker Meneses hit by a pitch — both on 1-2 counts. The runners moved up on Jonathan Diaz’s sacrifice bunt before Holt delivered on a 2-2 pitch.

“That guy was their hero,” Montoyo said.

Durham scored in the second when Fontenot led off with a double, moved to third on Kiermaier’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Jesus Flores’ sacrifice fly.

Otherwise, Pawtucket starter Anthony Ranaudo was stellar in a six-inning stint, giving up four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

The Bulls loaded the bases without a hit with two outs in the first inning.

Guyer, an outfielder in his first game since the regular-season finale Sept. 2 because he sat out with back spasms, was hit by a pitch twice and ended up 1-for-3.

-- NOTES …: The Bulls scratched second baseman Ryan Roberts from the lineup after he suffered an injury during batting practice. He went on the disabled list and Fontenot moved into the lineup. Middle infielder Shawn O’Malley, who spent the season with Class AA Montgomery but had been an extra player with the Bulls during the postseason, was activated. O’Malley, who pinch ran in the eighth, began the 2012 season with Durham. … Pawtucket’s Steven Wright and Durham’s J.D. Martin, who’s the IL Pitcher of the Year, are tonight’s Game 2 starters. … The teams combined for 27 runs in their previous meeting, with Durham winning 14-13 on July 21.